Star Crossed In Time

Guozhi lets the elderly doctor into the room and watches his every move as he checks over Nova. "She seems to have caught a cold. I can write a prescription for her. Have her take it twice a day with lots of rest and she should be fine." The doctor says while writing the prescription. 

Guozhi takes the paper and waves the doctor off. After looking over the ingredients, he hands it over to Guo and says "Get everything on this and have someone reliable make it." Guo takes the paper but after reading it, he looks up to Guozhi with a frown.

"Boss... why are you treating this woman so well? We should just leave her and return to the Beast Realm. What if more Nine Tail foxes show up?" Guo asks with concern and confusion. Guozhi gives him a hard look before saying "This woman is now mine. She's part of our group now so we won't leave her behind. Got it?" 

Guo is unhappy with this idea but he nods his head and leaves to find the closest herb shop. Guozhi turns to look at Nova with worried eyes. He wants to leave before more foxes show up... they could handle the two outside if they were to fight head-on but foxes, especially Nine-Tailed foxes, are known for being smart and crafty. 

He can tell she and the foxes outside are kin so they won't stop until they get her back but if they can make it back to the Beast Realm... the foxes will be severely outnumbered. Looking back to Nova has him sighing in frustration. 

They can't keep traveling while she's sick... it would make it worse or even possibly kill her. He couldn't risk it. They will just have to buy as much time as possible with the fox wood... "Boss!" Suddenly Guo comes stumbling into the room with a bloody arm.

Guozhi's eyes narrow as he asks "What happened?" Guo pulls out the list for the herbs needed for Nova's prescription. The list was now bloody as Guo says "We can't leave the Inn! The wolves won't let us leave... they're too fast." 

Guozhi's jaw clenches in anger as he says "Give me the list." Guo hands the bloody list over as Guozhi walks out of the room. He quickly walks down the stairs and out the front door where the fox wood still burns. He takes a few steps forward before a large male fox disguised as a Demon Wolf shows up.

"Move out of my way fox..." Guozhi says with a low growl. Zhen stands his ground as he says "Don't think your little growl can scare me, boy. Give me the girl." Guozhi sneers at the fox before saying "Judging by the smell, she's kin. She's ill and I need to go get her medicine or she will get worse... move." 

A crafty smile spreads across Zhen's face as he says "Hand me the girl and I'll leave." Guozhi looks at the fox in shock as he says "Are you not concerned she'll die!?" Zhen snorts and says "Your own actions have revealed your true colors, boy. I don't know why, but you truly care about her."

"In my eyes, the faster you hand her over, the faster I can heal her. So, what will be your next move, boy?" Zhen says with a glint to his dark eyes causing Guozhi to clench his fists in anger. "You'd risk gambling your kin's life?" Guozhi asks with heated eyes.

Zhen snorts and says "It doesn't matter either way to me. You've taken our kin and that's an insult to our kind. Either hand her over, or let her die. It's up to you." Guozhi glares at Zhen before turning around and heading back to the Inn.

This fox was clearly an elder... his powers are enough to destroy his entire clan. Guozhi storms back into the Inn with conflicted feelings. How could he be so cold to his own kin? As he steps back into the room and sees Nova's red face, his feelings to keep her grow even stronger.

~~~~~~

"Grandpa... do you really mean that?" MingMing asks with confusion. Zhen sighs in despair as he says "Of course not! I'm trying to bluff to get Liling back... that man is dangerous... I don't know if I'm strong enough to take him on right now with just the two of us."

"He clearly cares about Liling so I'm trying to use that against him... I can only hope that it works. I hope Liling isn't too sick..." Zhen says with another sigh as MingMing looks back to the Inn. She only met Liling for a brief moment but she already liked her, especially when she found out what she did for her Grandfather.

She feels so guilty for losing her mind and running away... if she had stayed in the cave, none of this would have happened! It's all her fault... MingMing looks back over to her grandfather with a heavy heart. She knew that Liling was special to him and he was extremely worried. She has to get Liling back, no matter what!

~~~~~~

Bai Lei sits in his study reading over the massive pile of reports left from the years he was gone. Biyu walks in with eternal tea and sets it on the desk before pouring some into a jade cup. She gently lifts the cup and says "Come, take a break and drink some tea."

Bai Lei sighs and says "I'm fine. I need to get through all this." Biyu sticks out her lower lip and gives him a pouty look. The image was absolutely adorable but Bia Lei never took his eyes off the report in front of him.

"What good is an Emperor who's burnt out? You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others, especially your mother. She's worried about you." Biyu says with a sad look. Bia Lei sighs in surrender and places the report down. He takes the tea from her and takes a sip but he doesn't really taste it. Everything has lost its taste lately...